News that the Vatican is in behind the scenes contacts with the Saudi authorities over opening a Roman Catholic church in Saudi Arabia follows a series of hints from senior Catholic prelates involved with the Middle East following last November's ground breaking encounter in Rome between Pope Benedict XVI and King Abdullah.

Not by chance, the disclosure came just after the first Catholic church in Qatar, Our Lady of the Rosary, was inaugurated at a mass in the seaside capital of Doha attended by 15,000 people and held by Cardinal Ivan Dias, head of the Congregation for Evangelisation, who presented a chalice sent by Pope Benedict XVI.

Officially the Vatican is being cautious, downplaying expectations.The Vatican and Saudi Arabia do not have diplomatic relations, and Saudi Arabia does not allow religious freedom, with Christian worship in effect forbidden.

However Archbishop Mounged El Hachem, the papal nuncio to Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Yemen and Bahrain, who attended the Doha inauguration, said moves toward diplomatic ties were under way following the unprecedented visit to the Vatican last November by King Abdullah.

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• 'Talks on Catholic church in Saudi Arabia'

This would involve negotiations for the "authorisation of the building of Catholic churches" in Saudi Arabia, he said. Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said he could not confirm that the two sides were "in negotiations" but added: "If, as we hope, we reach an agreement authorising the construction of the first church in Saudi Arabia, it will be a step of historic importance."

The way was paved not only by King Abdullah's talks with the Pope but also more recently by the setting up of a permanent Catholic-Muslim Forum to repair relations between the two faiths after the Pope's controversial remarks on Islam at Regensburg University in 2006.

The Pope said his apparent reference to Islam as inherently violent and inhumane had been "misunderstood," and he made amends by praying at the Blue Mosque in Istanbul shortly afterwards. He has called however for "reciprocal" gestures by the Muslim side, such as greater tolerance for Christian minorities in Muslim countries.

Vatican Radio said the opening of the church in Qatar was "an event of historical importance after 14 centuries". The church, which bears no crosses or bells, stands on land donated to the Church by Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, who favours interreligious dialogue.

The Vatican however warned Christians in the Gulf to be "prudent", and said there was an increased threat of attacks by Islamic extremists on local Christian communities.

Bishop Paul Hinder, Apostolic Vicar for Arabia, says "the climate" in Saudi Arabia has "improved" since last year's visit by King Abdullah to the Vatican - the first ever audience by the head of the Roman Catholic Church with a Saudi monarch.

At the time the two leaders called for "religious and cultural dialogue among Christians, Muslims and Jews for the promotion of peace, justice and spiritual and moral values, especially in support of the family."

Bishop Hinder, a Swiss Capuchin, said "the situation of the Church in Saudi Arabia is similar to that of early Christian communities. It is a Church that prays, that hopes one day to come out of the catacombs".

Most of the Christians in Saudi Arabia - thought to be around a million - are foreign workers from countries like India and the Philippines. Bishop Hinder said al-Qaeda terrorists had targeted foreign workers "to create insecurity and push foreign companies to leave".

But the Saudis knew "that without such human capital the House of Saud could not survive. Many local civil and religious leaders who are in favour of greater dialogue are afraid to speak publicly about it. And yet there is no alternative to dialogue and mutual tolerance."

Bishop Hinder told al Jazeera that allowing Christians to worship freely could "only bring benefits to the countries in which they are working. The more they are satisfied spiritually, the more they will continue to help develop the country - it's obvious," he said.

Qatar, which hopes to bid to host the Olympic Games in 2016, has approved five churches for other Christian denominations, including the Anglican Communion. The first Catholic church in the Gulf was opened in Bahrain.There are seven Catholic churches in the United Arab Emirates, four in Oman and three in Kuwait.

The new Muslim-Catholic Forum will be inaugurated in Rome in November with a seminar on the theme "Love God, Love Thy Neighbour." It will hold regular meetings, and will also "convene at any time if emergency global circumstances arise similar to the mass unrest and protests caused by the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2006", Vatican and Muslim officials said.

The opening of the church in Qatar leaves Saudi Arabia as the only country in the region that still bans the building of churches. Will it now reverse this? One major obstacle is that such a concession could risk a violent backlash by Muslims who regard Saudi Arabia as sacred territory because it is home to Islam's holiest sites, Mecca and Medina.

The Saudi authorities adhere to the austere Wahhabi version of Sunni Islam, ruthlessly banning all non-Muslim religious rituals and confiscate Bibles and crucifixes. And no-one is more aware of the sensitivities involved than King Abdullah, who is the guardian of the Islamic holy sites - and of Saudi Arabia's stability.